judgment, the Court orders the setting aside of the sentence of 12 strokes
of the cane, meted on the Applicants. For the avoidance of doubt, the setting
aside of this sentence does not have any other bearing on the other
sentences rendered by the domestic courts in the Applicants’ case.
ii. Amendment of law to ensure respect for dignity
94. The Applicants prayed the Court to order the Respondent to amend its laws
to remove caning as a form of punishment since it violates Article 5 of the
Charter.
*
95. The Respondent State reiterated its prayer that the Application be
dismissed in its entirety.
***
96. As earlier pointed out in this Judgment, the question of the compatibility of
corporal punishment with the Charter, in the Respondent State, was
previously dealt with in Yassin Rashid Maige v. Tanzania40 as well as in
Kabalabala Kadumbagula and Another v Tanzania.41 In these decisions, the
Court found that the Respondent State’s Penal Code, for endorsing corporal
punishment, contravenes Article 5 of the Charter. Consequently, the
Respondent State was ordered to repeal the provisions relating to corporal
punishment in its Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Act and the Corporal
Punishment Act.42
97. Specifically, in Kabalabala Kadumbagula and Another v. Tanzania, a
decision which was delivered on 4 June 2024, the Respondent State was
given a period of two years within which to take steps to amend its criminal
laws and align them with its international human rights obligations. In this
connection, the Court observes that the period given to the Respondent
40 Supra, § 143.
41 Supra, § 101.
42 Ibid, §§ 170-173.
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